1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ink jet printers are well known. Some types of ink jet printer are provided with a carriage that moves along a rail. The carriage supports an ink cartridge that stores ink. The carriage also supports an ink jet head. Ink is supplied to the ink jet head from the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage. The ink jet head discharges the ink that has been supplied from the ink cartridge. The ink jet printer discharges the ink from the ink jet head toward a print medium while the carriage is moving. Printing can thus be performed on the entirety of the print medium.
Some ink jet printers are provided with an ink tank for storing ink. The ink tank is fixed to a printer main body. An ink jet printer provided with an ink tan is taught in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-355989. In this printers when the amount of ink runs low in the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage, the carriage is moved to a position close to the ink tank, and the ink cartridge is then replenished with ink from the ink tank.
In the case of the conventional ink jet printer described above, the carriage must be halted next to the ink tank while the ink cartridge is being replenished. Consequently, printing operation cannot be performed while the ink cartridge is being replenished. In the aforementioned conventional ink jet printer, the printing operation is halted for a long time.
The present invention has taken the aforementioned circumstances into consideration, and aims to provide an ink jet printer in which the printing operation is not halted for a long time.